Promise and Wrath (4)

Pray Psalm 28.6, 7.
Blessed be the LORD,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

Sing Psalm 28.6, 7.
(Angel’s Story: O Jesus, I Have Promised)
Blessed be the Name of Jesus, for He will hear our prayer.
His strength protects and shields us with mercy and with care.
In You our heart rejoices; You help us by Your Word.
To You we raise our voices to praise and thank You, Lord.

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 24.8-14.

Prepare.
1. How did the Lord refer to Nebuchadnezzar? What does that mean?

2. What promise did the Lord hold out for His people?

Meditate.
Here is our first indication that Jeremiah is writing all this down in a book (v. 13). Of course, he had to have been, because we have the book today. But it is a measure of God’s grace that He directed certain of His prophets to record their ministries and messages in books, “for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world” (Westminster Confession of Faith 1.1).

Jeremiah told Jehoiakim and the people of his day that Nebuchadnezzar was bringing the forces of Babylon “against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around” (v. 9), and he would wreak widespread destruction. The Babylonians had been preparing for this since the days of Hezekiah, once they learned the fabulous riches that were stashed away in Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 20.12-18). Now at last the hour of judgment had come.

This would be the first of three assaults Nebuchadnezzar would mount against the city. It is recalled here to demonstrate to Zedekiah the certainty of God’s Word. As He had spoken through Jeremiah in the time of Jehoiakim, so was He now speaking to Zedekiah.

But Zedekiah and the people would not listen; thus, they would suffer an even greater destruction than that visited on the city and nation during Jehoiakim’s reign (vv. 10, 11). But God is an equal opportunity Judge. He used the Babylonians to judge the people of Judah and Jerusalem; and He would raise up the Medes and Persians to judge the sinful Babylonians. Then, after seventy years of captivity, God would return His people to their land (vv. 12-14). He disciplines His people when they need it, but He does not abandon them.

Jesus has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28.20). We may need to undergo discipline from the Lord at times (Heb. 12.3-11), but this is only so that He can restore us to His love and His righteous path. His promise to bless will never fail. Keep your eyes fixed on that.

Reflect.
1. The people were judged because they had not “heard” the Word of God (v. 8). What does that mean?

2. Is it possible to read the Bible and listen to good preaching and still not “hear” the Word of God? How can we know when we have “heard” the Word as God intends?

3. God has His eye on the works people do, both those who know Him and those who do not. How should this motivate us?

…the Prophet shews here that such would be the devastation of the land, that there would be no thoughts about marriages, that all hilarity and joy would cease, that there would be no preparations of food, no grinding of corn, and that, in short, all feasts usually kept by the light of candles would be no more celebrated. Here, then, he describes to the life that devastation which had been before mentioned. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Jeremiah 25.10

Keep me in Your path, O Lord, so that I…

Pray Psalm 28.1-5, 8, 9.
Call upon your Good Shepherd to guide and keep you today, and to use you for His glory.

Sing Psalm 28.1-5, 8, 9.
Psalm 28.1-5, 8, 9 (Angel’s Story: O Jesus, I Have Promised)
I cry to You, our Savior, O, be not deaf to me!
Lord, speak to me with favor, lest I should dying be.
Hear now my supplications when for Your help I cry.
Receive these, my oblations, before Your throne on high.

Lord, count me not among those who walk in sinful ways.
With words of peace their tongue glows while evil fills their days.
Your works they disregard, Lord, while evil fills their hands.
Destroy them by Your Word, Lord, and let them no more stand.

Our strength are You, O Savior, our strong defense and sure.
Anointed with Your favor, we rest in You secure.
Save us, and bless us, Jesus, upon us turn Your face.
With shepherd’s care, Lord, keep us forever in Your grace.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).